All highly successful corporations no doubt share one common trait: all are cognizant that their brands merit a fortune and take care to keep it visible and respected. It’s a form of business self-awareness that up and coming companies should emulate.
In fact, it seems as though many emerging businesses today are grasping the importance of the art of branding. After all, in the fast-changing landscape of the 21st-century business world, brand image is no longer a concept that clings to a select few multinational business empires. That’s right. On a closer look, more and more small and medium-sized businesses across the world today are participating in the so-called ‘brand game’ as they become increasingly conscious about their brand image. With this wind of change desperately seeking to alter the status quo in the worldwide business climate, it’s time for you examine your own brand.
Following is a rundown of four simple but effective steps that all emerging businesses should take in order to enact their own successful brand building strategy. Together, these four parts give shape to what could be aptly termed as the “anatomy” of a memorable brand.
The Heart: Definition of Your Brand
First and foremost, you need to define your brand comprehensively, and the only way to do so is by asking yourself the following simple but important questions:
- What kind of a business do you have?
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- What makes you different from your business rivals?
- How do you deliver your customers better services/products?
Spend as much time as necessary to finding the answers to these questions. It will help you gain a clear perspective about your overall business structure, your products and/or services, and your future goals. Without a clear concept on these crucial business aspects, coming up with a successful brand building strategy is going to be a rather Herculean task, if not downright impossible.
The Face: An Attractive Brand Logo
A brand logo represents the identity of a business and its brand name. More importantly, as your brand grows with time, this logo becomes an inseparable part of your products and/or services. It is an essential ingredient of your brand’s anatomy. The logo design must be equipped with a certain set of qualities in order to outshine rival brands. Your logo design must be simple, easy to understand, relevant, and unique. The idea is to ensure that it stands out amongst all rival brands. And it’s not just about being simple; your logo also has to be visually appealing. For example, look at the Apple Inc. logo; it’s so simple that even a third-grader can draw it with no difficulties whatsoever. At the same time, it’s visually appealing and adds more value to the company’s brand image.
The Arms: A Dedicated Website
The Internet has slowly and gradually turned out to be one of the most powerful media tools for businesses, allowing them to reach out to the public and promote their brand and products/services. The best part about having a dedicated website for your business is that it is relatively cost effective, and, more importantly, its reach is global. It is important that you hire a professional web design service with enough knowledge of current techniques, hands-on experience, and demonstrable ability to develop a top-notch website for your brand.
The idea is to ensure that:
- The website is regularly updated with relevant content so that the brand-loyalists are always aware of your business direction.
- The website is adequately styled so as to allow your logo to fit naturally in it.
- The website is easy to access and navigate
- The website has an up-to-date and adequate SEO policy.
The Guts: Smart Marketing
Marketing should be at the center of almost each and every step you take in order to build a better brand. If you have a dedicated marketing team at your disposal, make sure that it utilizes all available resources efficiently in order to promote your brand, products, and/or services. However, smaller businesses usually do not always have the luxury of investing large amounts of capital or other resources on marketing/promotional campaigns. If you are short on funds or other resources to promote your brand in the desired manner, it is advisable to hire a reasonably priced marketing firm that is capable of promoting your brand without costing you a fortune.
These are only four ideas that you can utilize while practicing the art of branding. Search the Internet or consult an expert for more of such practical and result yielding branding ideas.
GTECH Designs is a Baltimore-based web marketing firm that is committed to helping impact-makers spend more time doing good. For more information, contact us at 410-775-4100, email us at [email protected], or get in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter.
